BYU baseball: Cougs blow lead, still down Lobos

ALBUQUERQUE — After blowing a 10-run lead, BYU's baseball team stopped New Mexico's 10-game winning streak Friday night, beating the No. 20-ranked Lobos in a slugfest, 15-13.

The Cougars, now 15-9 overall and 5-3 in the Mountain West Conference, were up 13-3 in the sixth, but needed the fifth pitching save from Jordan Muir to secure the victory.

In that sixth inning, BYU loaded the bases for the third time in the game, scoring six runs. However, the Lobos scored seven runs in the bottom of that frame as Cougar relievers and substitutes struggled.

The offensive difference came in the seventh when BYU went up 14-10 after Dan Vargas tripled, then scored on a sacrifice fly.

Cougar pitcher Blake Torgerson was effective through the bottom of the fifth until he got hit by a line drive. Togerson then gave up a two-run homer before finally finishing the fifth in an effort to pick up the win.

"We prolonged innings because of a couple bad plays, but fortunately we kept tacking on runs," said BYU coach Vance Law. "No lead is safe here."

BYU's initial lead came when Kent Walton belted a 440-foot home run to right centerfield to bring home Stetson Banks for a 2-0 margin in the first inning.

The Cougars improved their lead to 3-0 in the second thanks to a pair of walks and a hit batsman to load the bases.

Chad Nacapoy doubled in Jonathan Cluff to put BYU up 4-0 in the fourth as BYU loaded the bases again.

In the fifth BYU answered UNM's run from the previous inning, scoring Brandon Relf a sac-fly, then off a Nacapoy double and a Banks bunt to take a 7-1 lead.

The Lobos, now 23-4 overall and 4-1 in the MWC, try to rebound from their first league loss when they host BYU again Saturday at noon.